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If this isn’t proof that “religious liberty” has squat to do with this debacle, I don’t know what is.

Via Think Progress, we find that the Catholic Bishops who have been leading the attack on Obama’s birth control decision to protect birth control coverage in the Affordable Care Act don’t just want an exemption from certain religious institutions, but are looking for a full-blown repeal of the rule. USA Today reports:

Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “There has been a lot of talk in the last couple days about compromise, but it sounds to us like a way to turn down the heat, to placate people without doing anything in particular,” Picarello said. “We’re not going to do anything until this is fixed.”

That means removing the provision from the health care law altogether, he said, not simply changing it for Catholic employers and their insurers. He cited the problem that would create for “good Catholic business people who can’t in good conscience cooperate with this.”

“If I quit this job and opened a Taco Bell, I’d be covered by the mandate,” Picarello said.

If repealed, it could potentially meant that any employer would be able to deny any kind of health care to anyone because they’re religiously objected to it; in other words, it would allow a nationwide conscience clause. Which is funny, considering that the central mandate of the requirement has actually been in effect for most employers since 2000, including while George W. Bush was president. So if they got their way, it could actually mean a huge step backward for access to birth control coverage. And all of this is despite the fact that most Catholics actually agree that health plans should include contraception.

The bishops have made it abundantly clear that his has nothing to do with religious liberty, and everything to do with imposing regressive beliefs onto people’s heath care access.

Colorado has a very effective program that provides IUDs to poor and uninsured women at no or low cost. The public health department estimates it has helped cut the teen unintended pregnancy rate by 40 percent and saved the state more than $20 million in Medicaid funding.

Republican state Senator Kevin Lundberg, however, thinks he knows more than all these public health officials with their “poor science.” He explained that he’s opposing an effort to renew the program because IUDs are abortifacients (they’re not) that can work by “stopping a small child from implanting” (um, what?) He went on: “Protecting life is a very big issue. In my mind, that’s what government is all about, and to protect the ...

Colorado has a very effective program that provides IUDs to poor and uninsured women at no or low cost. The public health department estimates it has helped cut the teen unintended pregnancy rate by 40 percent and ...

It’s no secret that some anti-choice extremists believe, counter to the scientific facts, that some forms of birth control actually cause abortion. But traditionally mainstream anti-choice groups have tended to stay away from such claims.

For example, many have sat out the fights over personhood amendments, likely out of a recognition that, as state electorates have shown timeandtime again, Americans do not actually want their birth control criminalized. However, as a new Guttmacher policy brief explains, these same groups are happy to conflate contraception and abortion in order to undermine access to both when they think they can get away with it:

Yet, these same mainstream antiabortion groups have not shied away from asserting in ...

It’s no secret that some anti-choice extremists believe, counter to the scientific facts, that some forms of birth control actually cause abortion. But traditionally mainstream anti-choice groups have tended to stay away from such claims.

So you’ve heard about the IUD (intrauterine device). You’ve heard some of your friends say, “I love it! No pills, no periods, no fuss!” You’ve had other friends say “Ew… something foreign in my body? No way!” As an obstetrician/gynecologist, I hear a lot of truths, but also a lot of misconceptions about this birth control method. So what is the real deal with IUDs?

There are three types of IUDs on the market right now. The Mirena and Skyla contain progestin, a very low dose birth control hormone. The Paragard uses copper (which is toxic to sperm) instead of hormones to prevent pregnancy. You can talk to ...

Ed. note: This piece was originally published on the Community site.

So you’ve heard about the IUD (intrauterine device). You’ve heard some of your friends say, “I love it! No pills, no periods, no fuss!” You’ve ...